Men's Soccer

VReds Threepeat As AUS Champs

Nov 08, 2015

(WOLFVILLE, NS) The UNB Varsity Reds are AUS soccer champions... again. The 2-1 win over the No. 1 seeded Cape Breton Capers makes it a "three-peat" for the VReds and the second championship win in a row by the score of 2-1 against the Capers.

With a stiff wind blowing against UNB in the first half, the Capers were at an advantage, but only had a handful of opportunities.

After a scoreless first half, the Varsity Reds went to work recording most of their seven shots on goal in the second half.

AUS Subway Most Valuable Player for the tournament, Oliver Jones (London, UK), scored the first goal on a beautiful crossing pass from Marcus Lees to give UNB a 1-0 lead just under four minutes into the second half.

"When Marcus goes down on the wing, I am always looking to get in the box and nine times out of ten I know a cross is coming", commented Jones. "I saw the ball late, but made sure I was following in and it was a nice easy goal."

The goal took a bit of wind out of the sails of the Capers and just over three minutes later third year defender Kalen Park (Calgary, AB) netted the Varsity Reds' second goal, on a corner kick that curved into the far corner untouched by keeper Scott Shewfelt (London, ON) or any other Caper or VRed.

The Capers were fast to respond to UNB’s 2-0 lead when the AUS 2015 Most Valuable Player, Justin Maheu (Ottawa, ON), energized Cape Breton with an unassisted goal just over a minute after Park's corner kick score.

As the relentless wind slowed the Caper's progress, UNB locked down their defensive unit and denied Cape Breton of any significant scoring opportunities.

Jones, a fourth year striker, noted that UNB knew it was a second half that would give them a crack at a championship. "Playing into the wind, it's always difficult, so the main thing was to keep the ball on the floor and be composed (in the first half) and it was tough because Cape Breton was putting a lot of pressure on us. But the halftime talk was to go out and win the second half and take a championship home to Fredericton."

Both finalists of the AUS men's soccer championship will now prepare for the CIS championship, hosted by York University, as two Atlantic conference teams are granted berths in this year's national championship.